Flyers vs. Ducks preview: Anaheim should be a tough test

The Flyers enter tonight's game against the Ducks coming off two straight wins, and Saturday night's win over the Islanders gave us at least the illusion that the goals might finally be coming for this team. Vincent Lecavalier scored three himself, the PP finally converted and the team scored five in the win. It was a lot of fun.

But in order to fully break a slump, you need to keep the goals coming. The Flyers finally looked like they eased up and played a simpler game on Saturday night, but if Anaheim jumps out to a 2-0 lead in the first period tonight, it could all go away and the boos could quickly return to the Wells Fargo Center air.

Philadelphia Flyers (3-7-0, 6 pts) at Anaheim Ducks (9-3-0, 18 pts)
7 p.m. | Wells Fargo Center | South Philadelphia
TV: CSN Philly, Prime Ticket | Radio: 97.5 FM
Get the Anaheim perspective at Anaheim Calling

That's certainly in the cards. Anaheim's been a solid team so far this year, reflected by just about every metric. They're 9-3-0, good for 18 points in the standings, 4th in the NHL. They're 7th in the league in goals scored per game, 12th in goals against, second in shots on goal per game, 11th in shots against, and 9th in Fenwick percentage.

This will probably be Teemu Selanne's last visit to Philadelphia as an NHL player, so that'll be neat. But whatever. He can save the scoring for the rest of the year. Saku Koivu is out of Anaheim's lineup with a concussion suffered on Sunday, and goalie Viktor Fasth is also out. Old friend Luca Sbisa skated today but will miss tonight's game with a lingering ankle issue, while Sheldon Souray, Matt Beleskey and Jakob Silfverberg are all out.

Patrick Maroon had an ugly divorce from the Flyers organization two years ago, and now he's worked his way all the way up to Anaheim's top line. He could play with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry this evening, as he's done for a good chunk of the season. The lineup could depend on if Dustin Penner is ready to check back into the lineup, though. He and Mathieu Perreault could both return from injury for the Ducks tonight.

The Flyers just need to hope that their success from Saturday night can carry over. Andrej Meszaros will sub in for Erik Gustafsson on the blueline, but the lines up front will stay the same. Anaheim is a nice test, and all we can hope is that the Flyers handle it well, get some luck, and keep the slump

It'll be Steve Mason vs. Jonas Hiller in goal. Our game thread will be up at 6 p.m.